Episodes

Hello! This week we're sitting down, facing the front of class, and taking notes as James Graham, Jez Bennett and Madeleine Holt teach us how we're failing to tutor the next generation adequately, in particular failing to put creativity at the centre of the curriculum. They tell us what needs to be done.
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Comedian Alice Fraser joins us to put forward the case for sex licenses, house swapping and the power of sport (not all at once!)
FURTHER READING
CONTACT...

Hello! We took to the stage and took on the topic of mental health. With 1 in 4 people experiencing a mental health problem each year, there must be something we can do to support, and where possible treat, these millions. Ruby Wax, George Ezra, and Professor Sir Simon Wessely joined us at the Leicester Square Theatre to talk about their personal and professional experiences with mental health.
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Ayesha Hazarika is BACK! We talk badgers, office pets, and saucy calendars.
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Hello! This week we explore how to improve democracy by involving ordinary people in decision-making. Guests David Van Reybrouck, Professor James Fishkin and Sarah Allan tell us how an old idea from ancient Athens---selecting random citizens to deliberate--is making a difference from the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Ireland to reform of the Mongolian constitution. And we find out what we could do in the UK.
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Comedian Felicity Ward gives us her ideas. Including free...

BUY TICKETS HERE: https://www.liverpoolguild.org/events/reasons-to-be-cheerful-podcast-with-ed-miliband-and-geoff-lloyd
Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd take their hit podcast, Reasons to be Cheerful to Liverpool Guild of Students, Mountford Hall for a special live episode. Expect optimism, ideas, special guests, and stories of Ed's failed interactions with inanimate objects (and Geoff's interactions with animate ones.)

Hello! Our prison system is in crisis. Overcrowding, re-offending, self-harm and riots. What is to be done? Our guests tell us there is reason to think things can change for the better. Nils Oberg tells us how they do it so much better in Sweden, Vicky Pryce tells us what the economics teaches us, and former Lord Chancellor Charlie Falconer tells us how we can navigate the politics.
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Comedian Glenn Moore shares his ideas to make the world a better place.
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Hello! With the NHS turning 70 this year, we take some time to really appreciate how far it's come and do our best to come up with solutions to turn the tide and get the NHS back up to health. Our guests Dr Hannah Barham-Brown, a junior doctor on the frontline, Anita Charlesworth from The Health Foundation and Lord Nick Macpherson, former Treasury Permanent Secretary tell us what needs to be done. Spoiler alert: we need to spend more of our national income on the NHS if we want to turn...

Hello! In this episode we answer The Queen's question... why didn't the economists see the financial crisis coming. Our guests Prof Wendy Carlin, Maeve Cohen and Victoria Waldersee believe it's because the economic models we use aren't fit for purpose at all. They tell us how we can change economic thinking to improve our world.
ALSO
We check in with Iceland's Prime Minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, asking her about Iceland's new world-leading policy to tackle the gender pay gap. We also...

Good afternoon and welcome to the Reasons to be Cheerful train service from here to the Geoffocracy. Yes, we're talking trains. How have we gotten into ourselves here? Billions of government subsidies and eye-watering prices. What is to be done? Andrew Adonis, who used to be Transport Secretary, Anton Valk, who used to help run the Dutch public railway & Nicole Badstuber, academic expert join us to reason it out. Plus Geoff tells all about his trainspotting past.
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Comedian Ahir Shah...

Goodbye 2017! On a whole, we wont miss you, but there were *some* reasons to be cheerful, right? With our guests Sofie Hagen and Mark Watson, we review the nicer stories of the previous year before putting it in a box, gaffer taping it and sending it on a one way trip very far away.
FURTHER READING
Nothing on the reading list today. Have a day off!
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https://www.facebook.com/reasonstobecheerfulpodcast
https://twitter.com/cheerfulpodcast
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Merry Christmas! We've invited some people over to play the now legendary board game Class Stuggle. Who will win? Fantastic comedian Bridget Christie, Joel Cornah, of The Miliverse twitter account fame, take on Ed and Geoff.
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Before that, we get Rachel Reeves MP and Comedian Sarah Millican on to hear how they're making the world less lonely
FURTHER READING
https://www.jocoxloneliness.org/
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23joinin
https://twitter.com/TheMiliverse
CONTACT...

Hello! It's the most wonderful time of the year... when everyone works double to earn enough to splurge on Christmas presents. But it is all worth it when the only person benefiting from your overtime is the company you work for? Torsten Bell and Heather Boushey join us to talk straight about where Britain is going wrong when it comes to overtime.
Geoff cries and Ed wins against Murdoch
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We're joined by Jessica Fostekew who's hacking human biology to create a forgetting serum,...

Hello! "Culture" noun: Relating to the arts and to intellectual achievements. But what does it really mean for the towns across the nation? Renowned artist Grayson Perry, Sharon Darley from Goodwin Trust in Hull & Dr Dave O'Brien share their thoughts.
Ed & Geoff are taking selfies, swapping awards and treading the boards.
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Helen Monks wants us to talk to each other, more empathy and free tea.
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Kevin the Cat!
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Hello! Time to debunk some myths about the millionaires and their tax habits. Spoilers... It's highly likely we can make them chip in a bit more without them upping and leaving. Cristobal Young has the stats to prove it, Karen Stewart is happy to pay more and Prem Sikka is our expert in the UK.
Ed & Geoff are reunited and sharing their holiday anecdotes, but NOT the presents that have been misplaced
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Angela Barnes joins us, pleading for - horn variety, flirting lessons,...

Hello! With Geoff in Chicago, the birthplace of modern community organising, we thought it’d be a great opportunity to discuss the transformative power of community organising and why it’s a Reason To Be Cheerful. We are joined by veteran community organiser Jerry Kellman, who gave a 24 year old Barack Obama his first job as an organiser in Chicago in 1985. We also speak to Dan Firth from We Can Win about the transformative power of community organising in the U.K.
Geoff talks grilled...

Hello! With increasing newspaper scare stories about transgender rights, we thought it might be an idea to give some airtime to the perspective and voice of trans people so those of us who aren't experts on the issue can understand a bit more. We talk to a parent of a trans child, Joe, award-winning writer Paris Lees, and Dr Helen Webberley, a doctor who works with trans young people who explain why advances in trans rights are Reasons To Be Cheerful.
Ed and Geoff open the listener art...

Hello! In Episode 8 we learn about the tax which has been advocated since the 1800s, was supported by Winston Churchill and is widely regarded by economists as the perfect tax despite being elusive to policy makers. Our guests Joe Sarling & Catherine Cashmore guide us through the pros, cons and challenges of introducing a Land Value Tax
Geoff and Ed talk about firing people, getting lost with Boris, and reflect on the team outing
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David Axelrod with frank answers about the...

Hello! 16-year-olds are allowed to have sex and are made to pay tax... so... should they have a say when it comes to who runs the country? We're joined by Professor Alan Lee Williams, who fought the original battle to bring the voting age down to 18 in the 1960s, Ruth Davidson MSP, who, as leader of the Scottish Conservative Party is pushing votes at 16 agenda, and Anna Barker, Chair of the British Youth Council, puts it the perspective of her youthful peers.
Award Nominated Ed and...

Hello! Episode 6 is on drugs. Legally? Illegally? Is the war on drugs ever going to end? Niamh Eastwood, Executive Director at Release and Sam Kamin, Professor of Marijuana Law at the University of Denver join us to talk about the merits and pitfalls of decriminalisation.
Ed and Geoff talk Cheesecake, Halloween fun and Your Sinclair magazine
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Comedian Ayesha Hazarika thinks the world would be better if we double our dishwashers, provide karaoke-for-all and have less...

We were pretty comfortable on Sadiq's office sofa, overlooking Tower Bridge and The Thames, so we made the most of Sadiq's time and asked him a few more questions
In this bonus, hear Sadiq talking about his all-time hero, wood burning stoves, Brexit and the tragic consequences of a no deal, the relationship between London and the rest of the country, housing, Uber, the strength of diversity, and London being a beacon of the world.
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Duration:00:17:26

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